Saint, Why Sayest Thou Nothing? #7

Saturday, February 2, 2013

“Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews” (John 7:13 KJV).

You are not alone in being shy about witnessing for Jesus Christ….

Until we leave these physical bodies of sin, we will continue to deal with our weak, sinful flesh. Hence, we are not always bold in witnessing. The world still appeals to our flesh: we keep quiet about the Bible in order to keep our social standing—our “friends” and their “respect.” We want to avoid conflict and persecution. As our Lord Jesus Christ declared, “It is the spirit that quickeneth [makes alive]; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).

Though our flesh is weak, and “good for nothing,” we who have trusted exclusively the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour, have life in Christ! Rather than pining away in the old thinking patterns (the ‘say nothing’ attitude), we can have faith in God’s Word. We can believe Christ’s words and let them transform us. “…The word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

The Holy Spirit lives within us members of the Church the Body of Christ. “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you?” (1 Corinthians 6:19). The Holy Spirit strengthens us through His Word, and gives us the boldness to preach and share Jesus Christ with this lost and dying world. As the Lord told Paul, “Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee…” (Acts 18:9,10). God says the same thing to us!

Remember, if the people suffering in hell could come back, they would urge you to tell their surviving family and friends about Jesus Christ, lest they too wind up suffering God’s righteous wrath forever. The rich man in hell told Abraham: “…Send [Lazarus] to my father’s house: for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment” (Luke 16:27,28).

“Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee….”